The garden in winter: saving some thoughts for a snowy day

Months ago, a friend — who tends to see the glass as half-empty — asked what would happen to this blog when Chicago’s gardening season ended.

It was a question I hadn’t even stopped to ask myself. As it was, I was struggling with finding photos to illustrate posts for my fledgling blog, since nothing was yet in bloom — and, stretching the random photos I’d saved from previous seasons on my cell phone camera was beginning to be, well, a stretch.

Over the course of developing CityDiggity and cultivating my small-space urban oasis I learned many new things about blogging and gardening (oh, the power of social networking!). And, along the way I also got a decent camera (smile).

That camera still holds an abundance of photos that I never got to share, and they provoked many thoughts that I never got to express. Essentially, things I’ve saved for a snowy day — which might not be that far off considering we’ve had our first frost.

So, to answer my friend’s question, I will continue blogging through Chicago’s cold, cruel winter — sharing recollections of things unsaid, adventures in indoor gardening, recipes using veggies to try in future gardens, the beauty of area garden exhibits, thoughts on sustainability, lessons learned from the past season, and finally, advanced planning for next year’s garden.

[Hope you enjoy the photos above, which are a brief flashback on the season’s balcony container garden. And don’t forget to subscribe to my feed so that you know when new posts are available. Cheers!]

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Hello Avis! how are you doing? I have lots of pictures stored in my hard disk. Whenever I look back at those photos, there are bound to be things that I have missed out. So some of those photos can be used later. I hope to see more postings from you yeah… Btw, most of the leaves of my sweet potato vine got scorched by the sun last weekend. I have cut those dried leaves and stems away. I hope the plant could regrow soon. I find that my method of training the vine to climb on the tomato cage did not work well as the sun/hot weather can easily scorch up the leaves. It has be a creeper. The cage is taken out and the plant left its roots/tuber only ;-(

I’ve often thought of the same thing beings I’m a new gardening blogger. We have harsh winters here. I’ve already had to rip out my garden because we’ve had frost for the last 2 weeks. Beautiful photos.

You have answered a question that I have been thinking about for a few weeks now. I started blogging in June and have not run out of ideas, however the garden is winding down now.
I look forward to reading your blog all winter and hopefully I will be able to scare up a few pictures to post on my blog.

Here in the south ‘burbs we haven’t had frost yet, but all the tender plants were brought inside last Saturday, along with the last tomatoes, peppers, and green beans. Although the 29-degree predicted low didn’t materialize here, I’m glad to be finished hauling, and commence daydreaming about next year’s garden.

There’s plenty to say in the winter – thoughts on the past season, plans for the next season, drooling over catalogs, etc. Plus, it’s nice to have a blog where you can post winter photos, whether plant-related or not!

Glad you have some ideas already, because if you didn’t I was going to suggest you could blog about growing indoor herbs, houseplants and forcing spring bulbs indoors. That usually keeps me occupied enough until the seed starting season gets underway.

Who And Why

I'm Avis, an editor and writer who's returned to her Florida roots after years spent in Chicago. ........................................................
I grew up in Florida with a wide, grass-carpeted backyard. Still, I didn't become acquainted with the concept of "garden" or the quiet rapture found therein until several years ago. Inspired in part by the planters I'd seen attached to the wrought iron railings of apartments on the bustling city streets of Paris and in part by Chicago's magnificent median divides, I decided to try a few flower boxes on the balcony of my Chicago condo. My complete lack of knowledge was offset by the blessing of a southern exposure and, in that first season, the gift of consistent rain in the days after my plants were set out. I pressed my luck and threw a few seeds in a pot and was soon rewarded with what I gleefully dubbed "basil trees." I was hooked!
So now I'm back in Florida and I'll be trying my hand at cultivating an urban garden under the sweltering Zone 9 sun, remaining ever mindful of just how much rapture gardens cultivate in me. I hope you'll be in league with me on this new gardening journey! .........................................................

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